By Mark Buchanan – Several years ago, most people took the financial catastrophe of 2008 as definitive proof of profound errors in economic thinking. Some academic economists even lamented the discipline’s failure.

Mirowski argues that significant change would threaten the standing of the economics profession. Much of economists’ authority stems from their claims to insight on which policies will make people better off. Those claims arise from core theorems of mathematical economics — known as welfare theorems — which in turn depend on some wildly implausible assumptions, such as the idea that people are perfectly rational and make decisions with full awareness of all possible futures. more> http://tinyurl.com/m5sdrfq

What’s interesting is that while the article jettisons one legal reality—the corporation—as a mere legal fiction, it rests its entire argument on another legal reality—the law of agency—as the foundation for the conclusions. The article thus picks and chooses which parts of legal reality are mere “legal fictions” to be ignored and which parts are “rock-solid foundations” for public policy. The choice depends on the predetermined conclusion that is sought to be proved. more> http://tinyurl.com/o2ewhov

By Steve Denning – Economics, writes Nobel Prize winner Ronald Coase, as currently presented in textbooks and taught in the classroom does not have much to do with business management, and still less with entrepreneurship.

If the only problem of economists was one of irrelevance, then we could view the exchanging of econometric models of largely irrelevant issues by academics in ivory towers with the same nonchalance that we view medieval theologians arguing about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

By Maria Korolov – Of all the virtual currencies out there, BitCoin is the most interesting from a technical perspective – and the least interesting from the business point of view. BitCoin is a peer-to-peervirtual currency that uses cryptography to control the creation and transfer of money.

Many BitCoin enthusiasts are attracted by BitCoin’s independence, and the fact that its value comes directly from its network of users. But aside from its status as a technical marvel, it has little practical benefit for business users or consumers. Here are seven reasons why.

By Steve Denning – In an article entitled The Folly of Stretch Goals, Daniel Markovitz writes, “Let’s dispense, once and for all, with the managerial absurdity known as ‘stretch goals.’”

Well, no! Instead, let’s celebrate stretch goals.

Markovitz’s article shies away from stretch goals for several reasons:

“Stretch goals can be terribly demotivating, overwhelming and unattainable”

“Stretch goals foster unethical behavior”

“Stretch goals can also — tragically — lead to excessive risk taking.”

Stretch goals need to be about human excellence, not about financial targets. Financial goals bring out the selfish gene that lurks in all of us. Instead, stretch goals need to appeal to what is best in us. more> http://is.gd/lMczMu